Going home
by RebelVampire666
Summary: What is going through Edwards mind the night of his last kill during his "bout of rebellious adolescence"?


A young girl, walking the streets alone at night. Short blond hair, tied back with a scarlet ribbon. Wearing only a thin, calf-length skirt and matching, equally thin, tee shirt; she is getting cold. She is getting scared, though unaware of the killer behind her. Abruptly her pace quickens; she is only a block from her home. The killer is out of time. He would love to draw this out but now it was too late; it could wait for another night, another kill, for there would be many. Now or never, he runs up to intercept the girl. She does not see him, she is looking down at her glossy red ballet flats, thinking of the man who gave them to her. He would be worried; she should have been home over an hour ago.

I read more deeply into her thoughts: She had a husband and two-year-old daughter, as well as an ill mother-in-law to take care of. She had been out with friends, losing track of the time, but now she was eager to get home to her man. Friends, family-so many people would be affected by her death, a death she had done nothing to warrant. This woman had a_ life_, and that was about to be taken away from her.

_Not if I can help it_, I thought, jumping down from my rooftop perch to the street where the killer waited for the girl to look up. I ran to him, crossing in front of the girl. Her blood smelled good, but it was not what I was after. The man was now fully grinning, thinking of past victims, how he would do it. Pictures of silver knives and slit throats-blood pouring from them-danced in his mind, fuelling my bloodlust.

I grabbed the killer from behind, covering his mouth so he could not scream. Quickly, I jumped up to the roof of a small shoppe on the other side of the street; when the girl looked up there was nothing to see.

The killer was obviously terrified, but I didn't care. Had he not, after all, brought this terror on innumerable humans in his black past? His fear caused his body to release adrenaline into his blood, sweetening it. I smiled at he man briefly before going in for the kill. I made it quick; my thirst would not allow me to go any slower. My teeth tore through his throat like it wasn't even there, ripping open his carotid artery and letting the blood flow, pumping into me with every beat of his failing heart.

When I was finished my thirst was satisfied. I could not help but smile as I wiped the blood off my mouth, having enjoyed the kill. The smile faded, however, when I thought about what I had done.

I stared at the bloodless corpse until I could no longer stand it. I knew I should do something, somehow make his death look like an accident rather than a vampire attack, but I simply could not bring myself to. So I left him there on the roof and ran. Obviously I couldn't stay here, and anyway I had already been in this city too long-almost 4 months. The humans were getting suspicious of all the mysterious deaths. Of course, I could never be connected to the deaths as the humans were not even aware that I was here.

I thought of those murders, justifiable as they may have been they were still murders. The man I had killed tonight had been thinking of future murders he planned to commit-it wouldn't hold up in court but I had saved many lives by taking his. If only that could be enough for me, but all I could think was that I was a murderer, just like those I had condemned to death. I was no better than any of them-in fact, I was worse.

I felt like crying, and the fact that I could not made me all the more depressed. Why did I have to be a monster? What had I done to deserve this cursed life, one defined by fire and death? Because that was my life, fire and death and blood-that was how I survived, despite the detrimental effect on my peace of mind. If I could only not kill humans, maybe then I could be a bit happier. But how could I not, humans were our natural food source, after all. But then, what is natural about us? The very existence of vampires goes against nature and God, why not go against my nature, or lack thereof? I didn't have to feed from humans, I did have an alternative.

Abruptly I found myself running perpendicular to my original path, feeling happier than I had in years. There would be no more killing, I thought, ecstatic, I could escape the guilt and shame of this way of life. I was going to a place where I could be myself, without being evil. Where, for the first time in almost five years, I would not be alone. A place where I would be loved and accepted, and hunt animals instead of people. A place where, I now realized, I had belonged all along.

I was going home.


End file.
